The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to signal manipulation and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to a method and system for controlling phase.
Phase controllers are devices configured to control the phase of a signal relative to some reference phase. Known in the art are systems including radiofrequency (RF) phase detectors that are used to measure phase differences.
Determination and/or control of phase are known for many applications. For example, U.S. Published Application No. 20010045513 teaches measurement of an internal structure by changing a phase difference between the two signals and detecting a change in light intensity due to interference. U.S. Published Application No. 20100182588 discloses use of the analog or digital phase shift controls in a system that determines a distance to a retro-reflective object by means of optical signals transmitted to and from the object. U.S. Pat. No. 4,123,702 discloses use of phase shift for the purpose of sorting out and classifying timber in terms of knots. U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,548 discloses a phase-sensitive flow cytometer, wherein a phase detector resolves modulated intensity signal into two signal components which respectively relate to fluorescence decay lifetimes of fluorescent emission spectra.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,187,183 discloses measuring moisture and salt content by measuring attenuation and phase shift of microwaves. U.S. Pat. No. 6,285,288 teaches polarizing signal beams to differ in phase by ninety degrees for the purpose of determining air flow direction and velocity of air. U.S. Published Application No. 20120176596 uses phase shift two signals to determine the transit time of light.